


Normal Roommate Business

by VannaVee



Category: Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain
Genre: ADHD Pinky (Pinky and The Brain), Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Asexual Brain (Pinky and The Brain), Autistic Pinky (Pinky and the Brain), Character has a meltdown, Light Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-25
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:33:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28086240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VannaVee/pseuds/VannaVee
Summary: ACME University is where grade-A problem students get accepted. The staff has a habit of putting the worst possible combinations together. This duo is no exception. But these geniuses will survive, even if they drive each other insane.~~~I was left unattended and no one stopped me when this idea popped into my head. I'm sorry.
Relationships: Brain & Pinky (Animaniacs), Brain & Pinky (Pinky and the Brain), Brain/Pinky (Pinky and the Brain)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 53





	1. Chapter 1

ACME University wasn’t the first choice of most academics; it was considered the “alternative education” building of schools. When a student has all A’s and impeccable attendance, most colleges would think of them as the perfect student. But they end up deterred when they see the student’s track record. ACME is where the geniuses go when the dream schools like Harvard or UCLA turn them down for being problem students. So naturally, when the gifted kid with ADHD and Autism, who’s a single B from burning out, gets rejected from his dream school and recommended to ACME, he loses it. 

“And you remembered your granola bars? And the fruit snacks? And the-”  


Pinky cut his mom off. “Yes Mummy, I remembered the snacks. And the puzzle books. I’m a big kid, I’m going to college! I can remember these things, you don’t have to remind me.”  


His mother sighed through the phone. “I know sweetie, I just don’t want there to be an emergency and you not have what you need. Especially with school so far away from home. Did you remember your-”  


“Chewelry? Yes, Mummy. Orientation is starting in an hour and I need to drop my boxes off in my dorm. I’ll call you tonight.” He wished his mother goodbye and took the map out of his backpack in the front seat. Only four floors, this won’t be too hard.

Pinky jumped out of his skin when the door opened. He had been alone the whole afternoon after the orientation ceremony and was starting to think he wouldn’t have a roommate. When a short guy in a purple and gold hoodie saying “Brainiacs” on the front walked in holding a cart piled with boxes, he was startled. And embarrassed, why hadn’t he thought of that? He spent an hour walking boxes up from his car. “Hi, there! Are you my roommate?” Pinky asked and held his hand out.  


“No, I’m the cleaning lady.” The young man responded dead-pan.  


Pinky looked confused. “I didn’t know we had a cleaning lady.”  


The other person stared at Pinky for a moment before starting to unload boxes and a mini-fridge from the cart. “That was sarcasm. Yes, I’m residing in room 2-21. As long as you’re where you’re supposed to be, I guess we’re roommates.” He handed Pinky the cord connected to the mentioned mini-fridge. “You’re skinny. Plug that in for me.” He added a moment later, “Please.”  


Pinky isn’t good with sarcasm, he had quickly learned in English class. But he wanted to make a good impression on his new roommate, and possible friend, so he did what he asked. “Okay, Brain!”  


“Pardon me?” The guy cocked an eyebrow and looked at Pinky bewildered.  


“Well you haven’t told me your name, and your shirt has a brain on it. And you have pretty smart to get into ACME, so… Brain.” Pinky explained.  


“That’s absurd.” The taller boy looked down in dejection. “But I suppose it might make sense. I don’t get chummy with people, I was hoping to do minimal amounts of talking this semester, so I didn’t feel it necessary to tell you my name. But for the duration of our cohabitation, you may call me ‘Brain.”  


When Pinky’s eyes lit up, they all but glowed. “Nice to meet you Brain! People call me Pinky!” He giggled.  


Pinky snorted when he laughed, which sounded vaguely like a word. The only thing that Brain could make out was ‘Narf.’ “Pinky, the fridge. Please plug it in.”  


Pinky glanced down at the cord in his hand. “Right! I almost forgot I was holding this, silly me.” Pinky reached behind the cooler that the school provided with the dorm, but couldn’t see the outlet. The duo got to work figuring out where that was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Does anyone know how to create indents without creating a new paragraph? I'm having a hard time with the dialogue.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For some clarification about writing Pinky as Autistic in this universe:  
> -I am not Autistic myself, but I am constantly doing research to respect the Autistic community with this character. If anyone reading this is Autistic and would like to point something out that needs fixing or is impolite towards the community, I'd love to hear your feedback!  
> -Pinky's stims and tics are based on his behavior in the show, such as vocal stims ("Point, narf"), and physical stims (clapping and jumping).  
> -He chews on his shirt when he's anxious or upset, hence the chewelry.  
> -His special interest(s) will be revealed later in the story as Brain and Pinky talk more and begin to know each other personally.

The reason behind the extra mini-fridge was not that Brain was a snacker. He was something of a scientist, and Pinky figured this out when he opened a cottage cheese container that seemed to have expired. “Point! I think your food went bad, Brain.” Pinky could only describe the smell as bad, wrong, not right. It made him nauseous very quickly and he gagged.  


It loosened his grip on the container, but Brain caught it. “Be careful with that!” he shouted at the taller boy. “I’ve been working on this experiment for months! Do you know how long it takes for penicillin and fusarium to grow in the same environment?” He hastily put the lid back on the container and put it in the fridge. When Brain looked back, Pinky had backed away and gone very quiet. The way he crumpled in on himself made Brain feel bigger than him, despite being a good foot shorter. Well, this is new. Usually, when Brain would snap at classmates for messing something up they would roll their eyes, mutter something to the effect of him being a control freak, and leave him alone. Not Pinky, though, it appeared. He got out of Brain’s way, yes, but instead of responding with equal levels of snark, he just kind of shut down. Brain went back to stocking his experiment cooler.

After a minute or two of this silence, Brain was starting to feel awkward, like maybe he had taken it too far. When he looked over at Pinky, he found that the taller boy had moved to the couch and sat down while Brain was deep in thought. He was scrolling through something on his phone and chewing the cuff of his sleeve. He took a breath. “I’m sorry I yelled at you.”  


Pinky didn’t look up from his phone. “It’s fine.” He wasn’t even stopping on anything, he just wanted to look busy so he didn’t look lazy.  


“No, it’s not. You were just trying to help, I shouldn’t have yelled at you.” Brain closed the fridge door. “Do you want pizza? I’ll be ordering some for dinner.”  


Pinky glanced up at Brain, then back at his phone, and then turned it off. “Yes, please. Extra cheese, if that’s okay with you. I’m going to take a shower.” He walked off at a slower pace than usual, but Brain didn’t feel the tension anymore.

By the time the pizza had arrived, Pinky was out of the shower, in new clothes, and with a towel on his head. “Narf!” Pinky shouted giddily and clapped when he saw the open pizza box on the table. “That looks amazing! Thank you for getting dinner. How much do I owe you?” he asked and walked to his wallet on a box by the door.  


“It’s fine, it’s for helping me with the fridge.” Brain responded from atop a still-packed box.  


“Oh, okay.” Pinky served himself some pizza on a paper plate, a pack of which had come in the dorm as part of a “dorm-warming gift” from the university staff. He pulled up a box next to Brain.  


Brain scooted away from Pinky. “I prefer to eat alone.”  


Pinky shrugged and took his plate to his bedroom. Fair enough.


End file.
